March 14, 2013
On the heels of last week's Swiss vote imposing binding say on pay, European officials announced this week that they plan to introduce legislation which would impose binding say on pay rules which would be applicable across all 27 European countries. According to the European Commission, which is responsible for the first drafts of EU law, the proposal would be aimed at “making shareholders more responsible on pay” rather functioning as a direct pay limitation, which would be against existing EU law. The move comes on the heels of a successful effort by the EU to place caps on banker bonuses. Despite these and other country specific limitations, political leaders for the EU and in several influential member nations, like France and Germany, have voiced support for compensation rules aimed at producing more “modest pay levels.” The EU’s largest proxy advisory firm, PIRC, backed the proposal, stating that shareholders still need regulations with real muscle as evidenced by last year’s shareholder spring. However, perhaps reflecting the increased fiduciary responsibility investors have shouldered as the result of an advisory vote, some EU investors, including Hermes Equity Ownership, part of Hermes Fund Managers, have stated that they feel a binding vote is impractical and even excessively risky due to the meddling into management of companies a binding vote would cause.
